American Gothic (Grant Wood, 1930)

American Gothic skyrocketed to fame after the Art Institute of Chicago purchased it for just $300 in 1930, now considered a priceless icon of American rural identity. The oil painting, featuring a pitchfork-holding farmer and a woman outside a Carpenter Gothic house, has inspired over 70,000 parodies—a volume 20% higher than the average for iconic artworks. Its subjects (Wood's sister and dentist) symbolize resilience in the Great Depression era, and it outpaces #9 The Birth of Venus in pop culture references, appearing in movies, ads, and memes across the globe.